Intel Imac or Intel Powerbook (Weight wise)

macrumors newbie

I posted several months ago and was close to buying an IMac, unfortunatly due to an unforseen emergency I could no longer afford one. I will now be able to afford a new computer again in about a week. I am now having a huge debate again. The problem being the Powerbooks are now again... well powerful.

I am student in my third year of University in a Soft Eng Prog and have been working on a 15" Toshiba Tecra S1 Laptop for three years. I would like to get a Mac but would like to know how transportable the 17" IMac is? I saw carrying bags for it. With my current Laptop I rarely use it outside the room. The only time I use it outside the room would be on the plane home. That said I also have to move usually every 4 months (sometimes great distances, e.g. from one side of the country to the other for co-op). So would it be worth it to get the IMac and use my other Laptop whenever I rarely need it for entertainment on long trips? Is the IMac also small enough to be taken as carryon? I would never have it stored under a plane.

Thanks for any help

Edit: Oh ya and one of the other issues is price. The Powerbook is a lot more $ even with a student discount. So I might wieght till around April, the rumoured time of the iBook I think. Hopefully it will be able to run WoW.

macrumors 6502a

I'm not sure if this helps, but the latest iMac G5 performs a lot better than the latest PowerBook G4. So you had to sacrifice power for portability.

However, I suspect that the MacBook Pro performs close to the same level as the iMac Core Duo because they're using the same CPU. So, with the MacBook Pro, you get basically the same power but it's portable.

So, assuming the price difference is worth it to you, I think MBP is the way to go.

thread startermacrumors newbie

Thanks for the help, but I am not sure the mobility is worth the price if the IMac is just as mobile (with the exception of not being usable while your mobile) or if I shoudl wait and see what the new iBook will be like. An extra $800 is quite a bit (Canadian). So does anyone know how the 17" IMac is weight wise?

macrumors member

If your in university consider signing up for the Apple Developer Connection as a student. It's about $115 CDN, but you can get some huge discounts on Apple hardware. Look into it, if you haven't already. For example, the base MacBook Pro comes down to about $1,838 CDN + the $115.

macrumors 6502a

Thanks for the help, but I am not sure the mobility is worth the price if the IMac is just as mobile (with the exception of not being usable while your mobile) or if I shoudl wait and see what the new iBook will be like. An extra $800 is quite a bit (Canadian). So does anyone know how the 17" IMac is weight wise?

Thanks

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I'd be more concerned about the size, rather than the weight if I were you. I don't think they would fit too well in the carry-on luggage, and there's a chance an airline might decide that you have to check it...

macrumors 6502

I'd say moving the iMac about every 4 months from apartment to apartment isn't a prob at all, even the box is nicely sized and comes with a carrying handle and setting the thing back up is a 2min business. The weight isn't bad either, so I'd say it's quite easy. Not as easy as with MBP but a hundred times more enjoyable than carrying around a tower CPU and a separate display.

About the carryon thing: I doubt it slightly but it's not that far, at least with the 17" (I've only handled the 20" so I've got no clue about the 17" box).

But opting to wait for the iBook isn't a bad option either, WoW is doable on it if they fit it with a proper GPU instead of the integrated Mac mini one.

thread startermacrumors newbie

I have decided to wait until April 1rst to see if apple brings out a really good iBook and if it would meet all my needs... I am not sure if the 13.3" screen wil but I am going to wait anyways. If that does not pan out I am going to get a IMac. I was therefore woundering how durable the IMac case they send is? I plan to take the iMac as carryon luggage anytime I go somewhere (usually home and back to University), but it just miss the requirements (its 1.5" over the carryon in one direction). Never ntoiced them to be picky though so hopefully I can get away with it. If I cant though I was thinking of placing the iMac in its box and then that inside my suitcase (very big). anyone know how well that would be treated? There is a cold factor to, I have never admitedly rode in the luggage compartment of a plane (I hope no one here has either), but i would imagine it can get a bit chilly. Guess if anything goes wrong Apple care would hopefully take care of it. Or should I just not bring it home and instead bring my old laptop home?
Thanks

macrumors 6502

I'm thinking you'll be fine putting the computer in with your luggage. I'm guessing a fair amount of iMacs have been shipped by airplane over the years... I guess your only problem would be if it got lost, then you'd be SOL.

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